Gianni Schicchi

Suor Angelica

Giacomo Puccini

February 25, 2006 7:30 pmMarch 3, 2006 7:30 pmMarch 5, 2006 2:30 pm

Direction

Valéry Ryvkin

Linda Brovsky

Jean-François Revon

Mark Somerfield

Artists

David Small

Jessica Rivera

Cindy Sadler

J. Raymond Meyers

Julia Frenkel

Matthew Treviño

Sara Campbell

John Sauvey

Paul Sahuc

Christopher Carroll

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Location

Lobero Theatre33 E Canon Perdido StSanta Barbara, CA 93101

Cast & Credits

Direction

Conductor:

Stage Director:

Set Design:

Lighting Design:

Artists

Gianni Schicchi:

David Small

Lauretta:

Jessica Rivera

Rinuccio:

Max Potter

Praised by Opera News for her "relish and energy," mezzo-soprano Max Potter is an up-and-coming artist celebrated for her warmth of tone and dramatic presence.

This season, Max performed the world premiere of Constantine Caravassilis' song cycle Epiphany for mezzo-soprano and cello, and returned to The Muse's Creative Artistry Project for a concert series of opera classics and a gala performance at the Arkansas Governor's Mansion for Governor Asa Hutchinson. Max joins the Opera Santa Barbara Chrisman Studio Artist Program in 2021, where she intended to make her debut as Meg in Adamo's Little Women (canceled due to COVID-19) and will perform the role of Flora Bervoix in Verdi's La Traviata.

On the concert stage, she was contracted to make her symphonic debut as the Alto Soloist in Mendelssohn’s Elijah at The Washington National Cathedral (performances rescheduled for the 2021-22 season), to return to The Phoenix Ensemble for performances of Ned Rorem's song cycle Ariel (canceled due to COVID-19), and to present Elgar’s Sea Pictures for the Duban Recital Series (canceled due to COVID-19).

In the 2019-20 season, Max Potter was set to make company debuts with Maryland Lyric Opera as La Ciesca in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi and The Chautauqua Opera Company as Jenny Reefer in Virgil Thompson's The Mother of Us All. She was to make her feature film debut as La Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi, with Mark Delavan starring as the title role. Unfortunately, due to the global pandemic, these events were canceled or rescheduled for later seasons.

Max began the 2018-19 season with Opera Southwest, where she starred as Clarina in Rossini's La Cambiale di Matrimonio, and covered Ortrud and sang Dritte Edelknabe in Wagner's Lohengrin. Following this engagement, she joined Salt Marsh Opera for Mozart's Die Zauberflöte as Second Lady and Papagena. The season also included the world premiere of City Life, a collection of songs by New York-based composer and poet Steve Bloom. Max made her company debut with Bare Opera as Damigella in L'incoronazione di Poppea and her role debut as Dorabella in Mozart's Così fan tutte for The North Shore Music Festival.

Highlights from past seasons include covering the role of Sister Helen Prejean in Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking. Honing her craft at Aspen Opera Center, Max performed classic roles such as Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), L'enfant (L'enfant et les sortileges), and Zerlina (Don Giovanni). She covered Meg Page in Verdi's Falstaff and the Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd. Further highlights include Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and Tebaldo in Verdi's Don Carlo with Vocal Productions NYC; Charlotte in Massenet's Werther with the Martha Cardona Opera; and Second Lady (Die Zauberflöte) for Festival of the Arts BOCA. Other roles include Mercedes (Carmen), Concepcion (L'heure espagnole), Flora Bervoix (La Traviata), and Zita (Gianni Schicchi).

Equally at home on the concert stage, Max is passionate about collaborating with composers and bringing their new works to audiences. With New Camerata Opera, she was featured in The Sacred Feminine, an innovative performance piece celebrating the work of Emily Dickinson through spoken word and art song. At Des Moines Metro Opera, Max sang Heggie's The Breaking Waves in recital for the composer. She has been a featured soloist at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, the Washington National Cathedral, Festival of the Arts BOCA, and the Oklahoma International Mozart Festival. Additional concert highlights include Ravel's Shéhérazade, Mozart's Requiem and Vesperae solennes de confessore, Haydn's Sancti Nicolai Messe, Monteverdi's Vespro della Beata Vergine, and Carissimi's oratorios, Jepthe and Jonas.

She is an alumna of The Aspen Opera Center, Des Moines Metro Opera Apprentice Program, CoOPERAtive, The Opera Southwest Apprentice Artist Program, and New York's International Vocal Arts Institute. She is a recipient of awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council, The Young Musicians Foundation, and Westminster Choir College's CoOPERAtive Program. Max has been a semi-finalist for The Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition, The Premiere Opera International Vocal Competition, The Paris Opera Competition, the Mildred Miller International Vocal Competition, and the MIOpera Vocal Competition.

Max Potter holds a Masters Degree from Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music, and a Bachelors of Music from Northwestern University's Bienen School of Music.

Matthew Greenblatt

Brooklyn Snow

Sara E. Widzer

Stage Director Sara E. Widzer continues to produce exceptional operatic and theatre works at companies across the United States and abroad. Currently serving on faculty at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in Los Angeles, her guest engagements for the 2020-21 season include as director for Opera Santa Barbara’s Concert in the Car production of La Tragedié de Carmen and a directorial debut at Opera Orlando with a new production of Carmen. Ms. Widzer’s 2019-20 season included as director for the world premiere of the new opera, JUANA, based on the novel Sor Juana’s Second Dream by Alicia Gaspar de Alba with music by Carla Lucero, for Opera UCLA. Also, the US premiere of La Morte d’Orfeo in her directorial debut at Los Angeles Opera. Among her engagements cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic were Assistant Director to Sir David McVicar at Los Angeles Opera for the mainstage production of Pelléas et Mélisande and as director at Music Academy of the West for a new production of Philip Glass’ Les Enfants Terribles.

As Director: Chautauqua Opera Scenes Program; Carmen for Rochester Philharmonic; Woman of Salt for The Wildish Theatre; After Life and Letters from Quebec to Providence in the Rain for UCSB Opera and the National Opera Association and UC Santa Barbara Opera Theatre; Susannah for Pasadena Opera; The Flying Dutchman for the Hawaii Opera Theatre and Virginia Opera; The Music Man for the Royal Opera House of Oman; Le jongleur de Notre-Dame and L'elisir d'amore for Florida State Opera; Don Giovanni, Tosca, Pagliacci, and Hansel and Gretel for Opera in the Ozarks; Faust and Giulio Cesare for Celestial Opera Company; Reasons to be Pretty, Bury the Dead, Zoo Story, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, As You Like It, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the Lee Strasberg Creative Center.

As Associate and Assistant Director: The Ghosts of Versailles and ¡Figaro! 90210 for Chautauqua Opera; El Gato Montes: The Wildcat for Los Angeles Opera; Madame White Snake for Beth Morrison Projects at the Hong Kong Arts Festival; Der Ring des Polykrates at the Dallas Opera, Silent Night, AIDA and The Daughter of the Regiment for Washington National Opera; The Marriage of Figaro for Music Academy of the West; The Flying Dutchman, King for a Day, and The Music Man for The Glimmerglass Festival. Ms. Widzer has worked with esteemed directors Francesca Zambello, Peter Kazaras, Tomer Zvulun, Eric Einhorn, James Darrah, Michael Counts, Robert Longbottom, Marcia Milgrom Dodge, Ray Roderick, Robert Eagan, and Mark Rydell.

As an educator, Ms. Widzer is currently on faculty as acting coach and stage director at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in Los Angeles, CA where she has been on staff for over fifteen years. She worked with famed film and tv audition coach Crystal Carson, co-teaching Audition by Heart courses and brought Carson’s technique to film and stage actors across the country. Through her work at City Hearts: Kids Say Yes to the Arts, she taught Shakespeare classes at inner city middle schools and high schools throughout Southern California, a project which culminated in a bilingual production of A Midsummer’s Night Dream that she adapted with the Spanish title Un Sueño en Medio-Verano. On the opera stage, she has worked with members of the Glimmerglass Festival Young Artist Program, the Los Angeles Opera Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program, the WNO Cafritz Young Artist Program and has also served as guest coach at El Camino College, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, Cal State University Long Beach, and Florida State University. Ms. Widzer continues to guest teach acting at studios throughout the Los Angeles area, and also maintains a roster of speaking and singing actors for whom she coaches acting and performance technique.

She received her MM in Opera Directing from Florida State University, her BA in theatre from Connecticut College and has an Artist’s Diploma in Classical Acting/Shakespeare from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in Shakespeare. Ms. Widzer makes her home in Los Angeles.

Read more at www.saraewidzer.com

Joshua Wheeker

Joshua Wheeker, a recent graduate of the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist program of LA Opera, is securing his place as an exciting lyric tenor in the opera world. The “warmth and clarity” of his voice lends itself to many of opera’s leading men, while his musical sensitivity is equally at home in recital and concert.

He was most recently seen as Tamino in LA Opera’s Kosky production of Die Zauberflöte. Prior to that, he made his debut as Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto at Opera Theater of Saint Louis. On his OTSL performances, Broadway World wrote that “his voice is so beautiful that one understands how a girl would be smitten with him.”

During his time in the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program at LA Opera, his performances spanned from varying operatic roles, including Malcolm in Macbeth, Cacambo in Candide, and covering Tito in La Clemenza di Tito, to performing concert series and new works with artist-in-resident composer/conductor, Matthew Aucoin.

His concert work includes engagements with LA Philharmonic, Dayton Philharmonic, LA Symphony, Dayton Bach Society, Colburn School of Music, Dream Orchestra, Palm Springs Opera in the Park, Opera Buffs, and Salastina Chamber Ensemble.

Joshua has received awards in several prestigious competitions. He is the recipient of the following honors: Contract winner in the Giovanni Consiglio International Competition (2020), 2nd place in Mentoris competition (2020), Winner of the Western Region MONC competition (2019), 1st place in the Pasadena Opera Guild Competition (2017), and in March of 2019 Joshua competed as a Semi-finalist in the MONC competition in New York on the Met stage.

This season Joshua will be appearing as The Duke of Mantua with Tulsa Opera in the fall, and Don Ottavio with Dayton Opera next winter. He was engaged to sing Narraboth from Salome with Hawaii Opera Theatre, but it was unfortunately canceled due to the Covid19 crisis. Joshua has also appeared with Aspen Music Festival, Kentucky Opera, and Des Moines Metro Opera.

Josh is from Dayton, Ohio and received his Bachelors of Music from University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music.

Finnish-American baritone Timothy Mix begins the 2019-20 season with his return to San Francisco Opera in the role of Count Capulet Romeo et Juliette, and travels to Annapolis Opera to sing the role of Scarpia Tosca. He returns to Urban Arias for performances of Glory Denied in the role of Older Thompson in Washington DC, where last season he performed the world premiere of Peter Hilliard and Matt Boresi’s The Last American Hammer. Following his success in this role, the artist travels to Pittsburgh Opera for further performances as Milcom Negley. At Opera Idaho, he revives his portrayal of the title role of Joseph de Rocher in Dead Man Walking.

Last season’s highlights included an American premiere of Alexander Zhurbin’s song cycle TSVETAEVA with the Russian Chamber Art Society and he joined Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra to sing Caliban The Tempest in Swedish under the baton of Suzanna Malkki. Tim travelled to Bergen National Opera to appear as Albert Werther and finished the season as Joseph De Rocher Dead Man Walking at Opera Delaware with great success.

Appearing at the prestigious summer festival Santa Fe Opera, Tim’s debut in 2016 as Count Capulet Romeo et Juliette under the direction of Stephen Lawless was the first of several engagements there; he returned the following season to jump into the role of Tsar Dodon in Paul Cullen’s Le Coq d’Or, and most recently sang the role of Jack Hubbard in a new production of Dr Atomic. His San Francisco Opera appearances include Le Bret Cyrano de Bergerac in 2010, Elder Ott/Blitch (c) Susannah in 2014 and de Brétigny Manon in 2017. At Opera Colorado he sang Enrico Lucia di Lammermoor, Belcore L’elisir d’Amore (also at Virginia Opera,) and Escamillo Carmen. Well-known by Opera Theatre of St Louis audiences, Tim made his role and house debut as Marcello La Boheme (also at Arizona Opera and Palm Beach Opera), and later Belcore in James Robinson’s production of The Elixir of Love.

Tim frequently appears in concert in Russian repertoire with the Russian Chamber Art Society of Washington DC, and with them recently added the title role Eugene Onegin to his repertoire. Other local engagements include the title role Rigoletto and Pere Germont La Traviata in concert with the Baltimore Concert Opera, Sharpless Madama Butterfly with Lyric Opera Baltimore and his engagements with Washington National Opera include Renato Un Ballo in Maschera as well as Ford Falstaff, a role he also sang at New York City Opera. Returning to NYCO, a highlight of his career was winning the company’s Christopher Keene award for Excellence as Edward Gaines Margaret Garner.

Other US successes include his appearance at Opera Delaware in the role of Claudius Amleto by Franco Faccio, and a role debut of Amonasro Aida with Opera Southwest. He joined the Bard Music Festival as the baritone soloist and narrator for Ginastera’s Estancia, conducted by Leon Botstein. Tim sang the title role Don Giovanni at Opera Grand Rapids, and at Opera Southwest. Tim’s international engagements include Escamillo at Finnish National Opera.

Tim has a broad repertoire of Finnish song which he presents in recital, and his concert appearances include Verdi’s Requiem with The Florida Orchestra, Carmina Burana with Oregon Symphony, and with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic he sang the role of Ping Turandot in concert.

Isaac Frishman

Tenor Isaac Frishman was recently praised for his “quick-witted stage antics” and a voice described as “truly sweet and graceful” (Broadway World) and during his recent performances as Prince Ramiro in Winter Opera St Louis' La cenerentola was praised as “a true Rossini tenor with fine coloratura and great high notes” (St. Louis Post). Mr. Frishman will join Chicago Opera Theater in their workshop of Dan Shore’s Freedom Ride and during the summer of 2019, Mr. Frishman will make his New York City debut with Teatro Nuovo, singing the role of Osburgo in Bellini’s La straniera and the tenor solo in Rossini’s Stabat Mater and covering the role of Giannetto in Rossini’s La gazza ladra. In the fall of 2019, Mr. Frishman will debut the role of Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Painted Sky Opera, and in 2020, Mr. Frishman will make four company debuts: Tonio in La fille du régiment with Winter Opera Saint Louis, Ernesto in Don Pasquale with Pacific Northwest Opera, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte and Beadle in Sweeney Todd with Utah Festival Opera. During the 2020-2021 season, Mr. Frishman will join Amarillo Opera as Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia and Opera Santa Barbara for Laurie in Little Women and Tonio in La fille du regiment.

In the summer of 2018, Mr. Frishman made his Spoleto Festival debut as Ghino, in the U.S. premiere of Donizetti’s Pia de’Tolomei. During the 2016-2017 season, Mr. Frishman joined the Sanford Studio Artist Program at Kentucky Opera where his assignments included singing the Witch in Hansel and Gretel, Howard Boucher in Dead Man Walking, Brighella in Ariadne auf Naxos and covering Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia.

In previous seasons, Mr. Frishman has joined the prestigious young artist programs such as Merola Opera, Opera Iowa, Chautauqua Opera and Des Moines Metro Opera. His recent roles performed or covered include Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola, Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore, Ferrando in Così fan tutte, Tamino in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Pong in Turandot, and Henrik in A Little Night Music.

Equally adept on the concert stage, Mr. Frishman recently has sang as the tenor soloist in performances of Orff's Carmina Burana, Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Cantata BWV 131, and the Monteverdi Vespers.?

Mr. Frishman holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a master’s degree in vocal performance from Michigan State University. Mr. Frishman is a current semi-finalist in the Opera Birmingham Vocal Competition and was a Semi-Finalist in the 2017 Premier International Opera Competition, the winner of the Grace Keagy Award for Outstanding Vocal promise from the Lotte Lenya Foundation and the third prize winner of the 2019 Harold Haugh Competition. Mr. Frishman is a student of Metropolitan Opera tenor, Richard Fracker.

Emily Senturia

Praised for her ability to “draw a rich and beautiful sound,” Emily Senturia is quickly earning recognition as a talented opera conductor capable of leading a wide spectrum of repertoire. In 2018, Senturia made her mainstage debut with Houston Grand Opera conducting Il barbiere di Siviglia, followed by her Kennedy Center debut leading the same piece for Washington National Opera, and her West Coast debut leading Mata Hari for West Edge Opera. In the same year she was selected by The Dallas Opera to participate in the Hart Institute for Women Conductors for the 18-19 season, and in the spring of 2019, made her Hawaii Opera Theater debut leading La traviata and led a workshop of a world premiere for San Francisco Opera, and made her Wolf Trap Opera mainstage debut conducting Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos. This season, Senturia returns to Opera Philadelphia as music director for the world premiere of Denis & Katya, makes her Boston Lyric Opera debut conducting Fellow Travelers, makes her Florida Grand Opera debut conducting Il matrimonio segreto, conducts the Mill City Summer Opera’s production of Rigoletto, and joins On-Site Opera as music director for their production of Das Barbecu.

After graduating from the HGO Studio, Senturia joined the HGO music staff during which time she conducted performances of L’elisir d’amore, The Little Prince, and The Magic Flute. Recently, Senturia has been on the music staff at The Atlanta Opera (Sweeney Todd), Opera Philadelphia (O17 Festival and O18 Festival), and at Wolf Trap Opera where she has conducted two Studio Spotlight programs.

In 2017, Senturia conducted Iolanthe with Savoynet Performing Group at the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival before joining the music staff at Opera Philadelphia for productions of Elizabeth Cree and War Stories as part of their inaugural festival, O17. She covered Alcina at Washington National Opera, led La liberazione di Ruggiero for the inaugural project of Opera X, a company devoted to promoting operas by female composers, and finished her season coaching Sweeney Todd for The Atlanta Opera.

Senturia’s training includes studies at the Houston Grand Opera Studio, Wolf Trap Opera, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Royal Academy of Music in London. She studied orchestral conducting at Indiana University and Boston University, and violin at Rice University.

Jana McIntyre

Jana McIntyre has been praised for her “dancer’s grace, mercurial wit, and vibrant soprano tone” (Opera News). This season will see Ms. McIntyre make her role debut as Ännchen in a new production of Der Freischütz with Heartbeat Opera, as well as join Santa Fe Opera for their workshop of the completed version of M. Butterfly in New York City. She will also debut with the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera singing from Così fan tutte and Le nozze di Figaro as Despina and Susanna in their “All Mozart Concert.” During the 2018-2019 season, Ms. McIntyre reprised the role of The Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute with Toledo Opera as well as with Opera Grand Rapids. She also made company debuts with Arizona Opera (Le nozze di Figaro), Santa Fe Opera (Jen?fa), and with Tulsa Opera singing Zerlina in Don Giovanni as well as Water in Rachel Portman’s The Little Prince for which women held both posts of director and conductor. Additionally, she covered La Fée in Laurent Pelly’s iconic production of Cendrillon at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

In the 2017-2018 season Ms. McIntyre performed with the San Francisco Symphony as Pamina and Die Königin der Nacht in selections from Die Zauberflöte at Stern Grove. She also presented the Wolf Italienisches Liederbuch and Strauss’ Brentano Lieder in concerts under the auspices of the San Francisco Opera Center. In New York City, she made her role debut as Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi with City Lyric Opera and she finished the season as an apprentice with the Santa Fe Opera covering Najade in Tim Albery’s production of Ariadne auf Naxos.

Career highlights include critical acclaim for her portrayal of Andromède in the American premiere of Ibert’s Persée et Andromède which made the New York Times “Best Classical Music of 2016;” her professional debut as the Amore in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice alongside Anthony Roth Costanzo and Kiera Duffy in an installment of “Orphic Moments” with Brooklyn’s National Sawdust Theater under the baton of Matthew Aucoin; as well as performing in the west coast premiere of Jonathan Scheffer’s Blood on the Dining Room Floor (Rose 1) at age 19.

Additional operatic roles include the “saucy and domineering” (San Francisco Classical Voice) Serpina, in La serva padrona with Merola Opera Program where she also covered Despina (Così fan tutte) and Clorinda (La cenerentola), Miss Wordsworth (Albert Herring), Königin der Nacht (Die Zauberflöte), La Fée (Cendrillon), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Leïla (Les pêcheurs de perles) Drusilla (L’incoronazione di Poppea), and Señora Grazia in the world premiere workshop of Roger Bourland’s The Dove and the Nightingale. In the Clark Library of Los Angeles, Ms. McIntyre sang as a soprano soloist in James Darrah’s staging of Handel’s L’Allegro, il penseroso, ed il moderato under the musical preparation and direction of Maestro Stephen Stubbs.

Equally at home in concert and recital repertoire as she is on the opera stage, Jana most recently sang the soprano solo in Mozart’s Requiem with Signature Symphony in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 2016 she joined Maestro George Manahan to perform Joaquin Rodrigo’s Cuatro Madrigales Amatorios in concert with the Manhattan Chamber Sinfonia and also sang Mater Gloriosa in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the Manhattan Oratorio Society at St. John the Divine Cathedral. She later performed and recorded the piece as a part of David Briggs’ organ transcription which was released by Albany Records in 2016.

Miss McIntyre won first prize in the Alan M. and Joan Taub Ades Competition which gave her the opportunity to travel to Buenos Aires to sing a series of concerts at various venues including El Salon Dorado at the Teatro Colón. She is an award winner from the Jensen Foundation, Giulio Gari Foundation, George London Foundation, Art Song Preservation Society, Metropolitan National Council, among others. She is a Richard F. Gold grant recipient from the Shoshana Foundation (Merola), and the winner of the Eisenberg-Fried Concerto Competition at Manhattan School of Music.

Jana has been an apprentice with Tulsa Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and the Merola Opera Program. She did her undergraduate academic work at the University of California, Los Angeles in Psychology (B.A.) and Music (B.A.). She received her Master’s Degree in Vocal Performance from the Manhattan School of Music.

Andrew Potter

Andrew Potter, bass has garnered increasing demand across the country for his larger than life stage presence and voice to match. Of his recent performance in L’elisir d’amore, Opera Today hailed, “With his huge, all-encompassing bass voice and precise comic timing he nearly stole the show.” This past summer, Potter performed the role of The Bonze in Madama Butterfly with St. Petersburg Opera, reprised the role of Hunding in Die Walküre with Pittsburgh Festival Opera, sang Vodnik in Rusalka with Steamboat Opera, and performed Escamillo in Carmen with Mid-Ohio Opera. Upcoming engagements include Prince Gremen in Eugene Onegin with Livermore Valley Opera, Poo-Bah in Mikado with Opera Grand Rapids, Sulpice in Daughter of the Regiment with Winter Opera St. Louis, Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni with Indianapolis Opera, Ramfis in Aïda with Raylynmore Opera, and Pastor Avery in Tobias Picker’s Emmeline with Tulsa Opera.

Recent engagements have included Osmin in Die Entführung with Opera Orlando, Colline in La bohème with Anchorage Opera and Indianapolis Opera, his Tulsa Opera début as The King in The Little Prince, Sarastro in The Magic Flute and Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni with Pacific Opera Project, Dr. Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore with Winter Opera St. Louis, Fafner in Das Rheingold and Colline in La bohème with Pittsburgh Festival Opera, the role of Death in the world premiére of Rick Sowash’s Death and the Everyman and Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte with Mid-Ohio Opera, and Simone in Gianni Schicchi, Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte and Ferrando in Il trovatore with Southern Illinois Music Festival.

Additionally, Andrew has performed across the country proficiently demonstrating the vocal power and sonority to sing such roles as Mephistopheles in Gounod’s Faust and Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, the range and physicality to perform buffo roles like Don Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Don Alfonso in Cosi? fan tutte, Don Magnifico in Cenerentola; and the flexibility and agility to sing challenging Handelian roles including Zoroastro in Orlando, Ariodate in Serse, and Argante in Rinaldo.

With years of studying under renowned teachers such as Rick Christman, Braeden Harris, and Kenneth Shaw; Andrew became a standout in mainstage roles at several of the nation’s most prestigious Young Artist programs such as Des Moines Metro Opera, St. Petersburg Emerging Artist Program, and the Tyler Young Artist Program.

Kyle Lang

Kyle Lang’s directing credits include Carmen (San Diego Opera), L'elisir d'amore (Virginia Opera), Die Fledermaus (Utah Opera), Lucia di Lammermoor (Virginia Opera), The Pirates of Penzance (Intermountain Opera Bozeman), Mame (Seagle Music Colony), As One (San Diego Opera), The Pirates of Penzance (Associate - San Diego Opera), The Bear (Wexford Festival Opera), La bohème (Virginia Opera),Die Zauberflöte (Seagle Music Colony), Don Quixote and the Duchess (Central City Opera), L’enfant et les sortilège and Gianni Schicchi (Simpson College), Dead Man Walking (Opera Fayetteville), Apprentice Showcase (Santa Fe Opera), The Face on the Barroom Floor (Tulsa Opera), and Short Works (Central City Opera).

His choreographic credits include Ariadne auf Naxos (Santa Fe Opera), My Fair Lady (Teatro San Carlo), Die Fledermaus (Utah Opera), Vanessa (Wexford Festival Opera), Turandot (Virginia Opera), The Merry Widow (Boston Lyric Opera), The Merry Widow (Utah Opera), La Traviata (Fort Worth Opera), Jen?fa (Des Moines Metro Opera), The Last Savage (Indiana University), Sweeney Todd (Virginia Opera), La Traviata (Des Moines Metro Opera), Ariadne auf Naxos (Virginia Opera), Carmen (Opera Omaha), Falstaff (Virginia Opera), Le Nozze di Figaro (Virginia Opera), Die Fledermaus (Opera Memphis), and La Traviata (Lyric Opera Baltimore).

Kyle has assistant directed for Santa Fe Opera, San Diego Opera, Virginia Opera, Utah Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Central City Opera, Opera Omaha, Tulsa Opera, Opera Memphis, and Indiana University.

His performing credits as a professional dancer include ZviDance, The Metropolitan Opera, The Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Washington National Opera, The Santa Fe Opera, and with Christopher K. Morgan, performing in countries across Europe, South America, and the Middle East. He pursued music studies at the University of Southern Mississippi before earning a BFA in dance from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. His home is currently in Washington, DC.

Raúl Melo

Tenor Raúl Melo has enjoyed a career performing some of the most demanding roles of the Italian and French repertoire across four continents. His international career began when he was awarded the prize of “Best Lyric Tenor” in the 1992 Alfredo Kraus Competition, a prize personally bestowed upon Mr. Melo by the late great Spanish tenor. Beginning in the lyric repertoire, Mr. Melo’s repertoire has expanded to embrace the great heroic Verdi and Puccini roles: Carlo DON CARLO, Rodolfo LUISA MILLER, Alvaro LA FORZA DEL DESTINO; des Grieux MANON LESCAUT, Cavaradossi TOSCA, Dick Johnson LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST, and Calàf TURANDOT.

For nine seasons Mr. Melo has been a regularly invited guest artist with the Metropolitan Opera. He made his MET debut in 2005 as Duca RIGOLETTO and was heard in a 2008 Sirius Metropolitan Opera Radio live broadcast as Pinkerton MADAMA BUTTERFLY. His other MET responsibilities have included covering the lead tenor roles in LA DAMNATION DE FAUST, HAMLET, ROMÉO ET JULIETTE, and LA RONDINE, as well as four Verdi titles: LA TRAVIATA, UN BALLO IN MASCHERA, RIGOLETTO, I VESPRI SICILIANI, and DON CARLO, the last of which he covered during the MET’s 2011 tour to Japan. Mr. Melo also joined members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for the 2011 New York premiere of Allen Shawn’s work Hide Not Thy Face.

Mr. Melo has also been a frequent guest with other New York opera companies. For New York City Opera, Mr. Melo has performed such leading roles as Cavaradossi TOSCA, Pinkerton MADAMA BUTTERFLY, and Araquil in Massenet’s rarely-performed yet thrilling LA NAVARRAISE. For Teatro Grattacielo, which presents rarely-heard verismo operas in concert form, Mr. Melo has performed Vassili in Giordano’s SIBERIA, the King in the New York premiere of Franco Alfano’s SAKÙNTALA, Giosta Berling in Zandonai’s I CAVALIERI DI EKEBÙ, Gennaro in Wolf-Ferrari’s I GIOIELLI DELLA MADONNA, and Osaka in Mascagni’s IRIS. In recent seasons, Mr. Melo has displayed impressive stylistic breadth with his role debuts as both Turiddu CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA and Canio PAGLIACCI, performing both in the same evenings (Amarillo Opera). Other North American companies with which Mr. Melo has performed include Washington National Opera, Dallas Opera, Seattle Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Spoleto Festival USA, Manitoba Opera, and Opéra de Québec.

Mahri Kerley

Dylan Minor

Sarah Vautour

American soprano, Sarah Vautour, is in her second year as a Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist, and returned to the LA Opera stage in the 19/20 season as Papagena in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and covered Musetta in Puccini’s La bohème. In May, Ms. Vautour will sing the role of Barbarina in their new production of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, led by Maestro James Conlon and director James Gray.

This summer Ms. Vautour joins the Aspen Theater and Vocal ARTS program as an inaugural member of the Renée Fleming Young Artist Program. In Aspen, Ms. Vautour will appear in numerous recitals as well as in the role of Erste Dame in their production of Die Zauberflöte, under the baton of Maestro Patrick Summers and the direction of Edward Berkeley.

Last summer, Ms. Vautour joined Teatro Nuovo for their summer season as a Resident Artist to cover the title role in Bellini’s La straniera. Additionally, she made her Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra debut as the soprano soloist in Mahler’s Das klagende Lied with the Cincinnati May Festival Chorus and Maestro James Conlon.

Ms. Vautour made her LA opera debut as the Dew Fairy in Humperdinck’s Hänsel and Gretel under the baton of Maestro James Conlon. Ms. Vautour’s other assignments during the 18/19 season included covering both the Celestial Voice in Verdi's Don Carlos and Gretel in Hänsel and Gretel, and appearing as Zipporah/ Voice of God in the world premiere of Henry Mollicone’s Moses. She came to LA Opera following a summer as an Apprentice Artist at Des Moines Metro Opera, where she covered Adele in Johann Strauss Jr.’s Die Fledermaus.

Ms. Vautour earned her Master of Music from Rice University and a Bachelor of Music from University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. Her notable engagements include the title role in Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda and Morgana in Handel’s Alcina with CCM Opera d’arte, as well as Rose Maurrant in Street Scene with Harrower Summer Opera Workshop. Ms. Vautour made her Aspen Music Festival debut in the role of Mozart and Donna Anna in Stephen Stucky’s The Classical Style, under the baton of Maestro Robert Spano.

In the 2017/2018 season, Ms. Vautour appeared under the baton of Maestro Thomas Jaber as the soprano soloist in Poulenc’s Gloria, and again, later, with the Houston Masterworks Chorus as the soprano soloist in Mendelssohn’s Elijah.

Suzanna Guzman

Suzanna Guzmán, mezzo soprano, is a native of East Los Angeles. An original Associate Artists of Los Angeles Opera, she has performed with them as a principal artist in over 40 main stage productions including Isaura (Tancredi) Cornelia (Giulio Cesare) Mrs Sedley (Peter Grimes) Mrs. Fox (Fantastic Mr. Fox-world premiere) Marcellina (Marriage of Figaro) La Gitana (El Gato Montes) Suzuki (Madama Butterfly) Empress Maria (Nicolas and Alexandra- world premiere) and working with opera legends Plácido Domingo, Mtislav Rostropovich, Galina Vishneskaya, Marilyn Horne, Alfredo Krouse, Patricia Racette, Renee Fleming, James Conlon, just to name a few.

She made her operatic debut in 1984-85 season with San Diego Opera as Emiia in Verdi's Otello and has worked with many opera companies around the world including Houston Grand Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Washington National Opera, Ludiwigshafen Opera, Seattle Opera, Opera de Geneve, Dresden Opera, Opera Montepelier, Dallas Opera, Seattle Opera, Edinburgh Festival, and Opera de Nice.

Guzmán reached international attention for her portrayal of the title role in Bizet’s Carmen. Hailed by TIME magazine as “A fire-eating singing actress, devastatingly sexy!”, the role became her signature role sung to acclaim in over 200 performances around the globe. A champion of original works, she has created and appeared in lead roles in new operas notably by Jake Heggie, Daniel Catan, Giancarlo Menotti, Ian Krouse, Tobias Picker, Deborah Dratell. Her many awards and honors for music include a Grammy nod for the 2006 Best Classical recording of Carlos Chávez: Volume III with Southwest Chamber and Mexico's Tambuco Percussion Ensemble, a Helen Hayes Award nomination for Best Actress for her portrayal of the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitor at the Kennedy Center directed by composer Giancarlo Menotti, first place winner of San Francisco competition, Guild Opera and National finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National competition.

An advocate of Arts Education she continues to perform her one-woman show, Don’t Be Afraid; It’s Just Opera! across the United States reaching over 200,000 inner-city students to date, and is widely recognized for her mentorship to California students.

Aubrey Trujillo-Scarr

Melania Taylor Burgess

Constantinos Kritikos

Wendy Castellanos-Wolf

Constance Hoffmann

François-Pierre Couture

Opera News praises Corey Bix for his “clear sense of drama and self-possession, exhibiting sturdy, unwavering control, flinty resonance and confident high notes.” In the 2017-18 season, he makes his Canadian Opera Company debut as Elemer in Arabella. Last season, he returned to Virginia Opera for his first performances of Max in Der Freischütz, the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Énée and Helenus in Les Troyens, and joined the Metropolitan Opera roster for its production of Der fliegende Holländer. He recently returned to San Francisco Opera as Augustin Moser in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and also for its production of Jen?fa, joined Virginia Opera as Erik in Der fliegende Holländer, Austin Lyric Opera to reprise his acclaimed portrayal of Lennie in Of Mice and Men, and sang Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde at the Centro Nacional de las Artes in Mexico City.

Mr. Bix recently made a triumphant role debut as Énée in Les Troyens with San Francisco Opera. His other recent performances include his European debut and return to Greek National Opera as the Prince in Rusalka with Greek National Opera and the title role of Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex; Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos with Washington National Opera, Vienna Volksoper, Fort Worth Opera, Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, and The Glimmerglass Festival; Erik in Der fliegende Holländer with Los Angeles Opera, Hungarian National Opera, and Arizona Opera; Kaiser in Die Frau ohne Schatten with Oper Graz; Walther in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg with Theater Kiel; the title role of Flotow’s Alessandro Stradella with the Stadttheater Giesen; Heinrich in Tannhäuser; in addition to joining the Teatro alla Scala and Savonlinna Festival for their productions of Lohengrin and the Cleveland Orchestra for its tour of Daphne. He has sung both Florestan in Fidelio and Lennie in Of Mice and Men with Utah Opera and Tulsa Opera, Sir Edgar Aubry in Der Vampyr with New Orleans Opera, Aegisth in Elektra with Des Moines Metro Opera, and Alfred in Die Fledermaus with Anchorage Opera. He sang the First Senator in Die Gezeichneten while covering the role of Albiano under the baton of James Conlon at Los Angeles Opera and joined San Francisco Opera for the Fourth Jew in Salome. With Santa Fe Opera he covered Yonas in Saariaho’s Adriana Mater, the title role of Lucio Silla, and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte and sang Dr. Caius in Falstaff and the Second Jew in Salome. His other recent performances include Don Jose in Carmen with the Aspen Opera Theater with Julius Rudel conducting as well as with the Glacier Symphony in Montana, Tamino in the workshop of the family version of Die Zauberflöte with the Metropolitan Opera, and Sam in Susannah with New York Opera Projects.

Mr. Bix joined the American Symphony Orchestra for Szymanowski’s Symphony No. 3, Pharaoh in Dessau’s Hagadah shel Pessach, and Pheobus de Chateuoers in Schmidt’s Notre Dame, the Cathedral Choral Society for Janá?ek’s Glagolitic Mass at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C., and Palm Beach Symphony for Mozart’s Requiem. At the Bard Music Festival, he sang excerpts of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in concert along with a recital of German and joined the Wagner Society of Washington D.C. for a concert that included excerpts of Siegmund in Die Walküre and Walther in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. He sang the Fourth Jew in concert performances of Salome with Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. He presented a recital with soprano Lauren Flanigan under the auspices of the George London Foundation at the Morgan Library as well as solo programs for the Wagner Society of New York and at his alma mater of Simpson College.

Mr. Bix is the 2008 winner of the Robert Lauch Memorial Grant from the Wagner Society of New York and the 2007 winner of the George London/Kirsten Flagstad Award for a singer with potential for a Wagnerian career as well as the foundation’s prestigious Vienna Prize. Additionally, he has been a prizewinner in both the New England and Southeast regions of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He is a former member of the apprentice programs of the Santa Fe Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, and Des Moines Metro Opera and earned a Master of Music from New England Conservatory and his Bachelor of Music from Simpson College.

Praised for her “thrilling vocal color” and “sweetly winning” presence, American soprano Anya Matanovic made her international opera debut as Musetta in Franco Zeffirelli’s captivating production of Puccini’s La bohème with the New Israeli Opera’s. In her debut with the Glimmerglass Festival as Micaëla, she was praised for her “sinuous soprano with its golden timbre and silky-smooth legato, [which] charmed the ears immediately…” and “first-class performance” (David Abrams, Musical Criticism).

Praised for her “thrilling vocal color” and “sweetly winning” presence, American soprano Anya Matanovic (ma ta’ no vich) made her international opera debut as Musetta in Franco Zeffirelli’s captivating production of Puccini’s La bohème with the New Israeli Opera. In her debut with the Glimmerglass Festival as Micaëla, she was praised for her “sinuous soprano with its golden timbre and silky-smooth legato, [which] charmed the ears immediately…” and “first-class performance” (David Abrams, Musical Criticism).

This season sees the soprano make her company and role debut as Mimi in La bohème with Opera Colorado, and debut with the Eugene Concert Choir for Mozart’s Mass in C Minor. Next season, she will return to Utah Opera, and make her debut with the North Carolina Symphony. The 2016-2017 season began with an anticipated return to Seattle Opera, as Gretel in Hansel and Gretel. The season also included notable role debuts, including Anne Trulove in The Rake’s Progresswith Boston Lyric Opera, and Mabel in Pirates of Penzance with Lyric Opera of Kansas City. She also appeared in concert with the Cleveland Orchestra and Cincinnati Symphony for Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Ms. Matanovic’s 2015-2016 season featured a debut with New Orleans Opera as Adele in Die Fledermaus.

The 2014-2015 season brought anticipated role debuts for Ms. Matanovic, as Violetta in La traviata with Boston Lyric Opera, as well as Stella in Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire in a return to Kentucky Opera. In the 2013-2014 season the soprano debuted with Opera Memphis, as Gilda in Rigoletto, Arizona Opera, for Musetta in La bohème, the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, for Carmina Burana under Alastair Willis, and made a return to the Boston Youth Symphony, as Pamina in The Magic Flute.

During the 2012-2013 season, Anya Matanovic returned to Seattle Opera for Marzelline in Fidelio, and was praised for her “crystalline” and “substantial” tone (Seen and Heard International). She made her role debut as Gilda in Rigoletto with Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra and sang Pamina with both the Crested Butte Music Festival and Utah Opera. She closed the season as Wanda in a new production of Offenbach’s The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein with Santa Fe Opera.

In the 2010-2011 season, Anya Matanovic essayed her first Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro with Madison Opera, returned to Seattle Opera for Erste Dame in Die Zauberflöte, reprised the role of Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel with Utah Opera, and made her anticipated role and company debut with the Glimmerglass Festival as Micaëla in Carmen, conducted by Music Director David Angus.

The 2009 – 2010 season saw Ms. Matanovic‘s company debut as Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel with Kentucky Opera, her official stage debut with Seattle Opera, as Nannetta in Falstaff, an appearance at Madison Opera’s “Opera in the Park”, and her debut with the Richmond Symphony as the soprano soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana.

In the fall of 2008, Ms. Matanovic made her Opera Cleveland debut as Gretel in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, conducted by Artistic Director Dean Williamson, and returned for their spring production of Verdi’s Falstaff as Nannetta. In summer of 2009, she joined the Seattle Opera artist roster for their internationally revered production of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, directed by Stephen Wadsworth.

Other notable engagements include New York City Opera, as Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen, as well as productions of Massenet’s Cendrillon, La bohème, and Purcell’s King Arthur, and Santa Fe Opera, as a “pert, appealing” Papagena in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte.

Ms. Matanovic is a graduate of the Seattle Opera Young Artist Program, where she appeared in their productions of Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, as Flora, Mozart’s La Serva Padrona, as Serpina, and Falstaff, as Nannetta.

Anya Matanovic made her professional opera debut, directly from her undergraduate studies, as Mimì in the Los Angeles commercial engagement of Baz Luhrmann’s Tony Award-winning production of La bohème. She appeared in University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music productions of The Crucible, Gianni Schicchi, and Hänsel und Gretel.

Ms. Matanovic is equally comfortable on the concert stage, having appeared with the Portland (OR) Chamber Orchestra, Hoku Concert Series in Hawaii, the Palm Springs Orchestra and the Music of Remembrance Concert Series in Seattle. Ms. Matanovic was also a Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and has been a prizewinner in competitions sponsored by such institutions as the Gerda Lissner Foundation, Opera Buffs, Leni Fe Bland, and the Sun Valley Opera.She is a co-founder of NachtMusik, an operatic outreach group dedicated to bringing opera to the many different communities of Los Angeles.

Anya was born in Madison, Wisconsin and raised in Issaquah, Washington to a Slovenian-born father and an American mother. The soprano, her husband, television writer John P. Roche, and their daughter, Zara, spend their time between Vermont, Los Angeles and New York.

www.anyamatanovic.com

Nandani Maria Sinha

Mezzo-soprano Nandani Maria Sinha is an acclaimed performer of German and Indian descent. Born in the United States, Nandani began her formal training in in Germany before returning to the US, where she earned degrees from Cornell University and California State University at Los Angeles. Nandani began the 2017 - 18 season with the Los Angeles Opera Chorus in Beth Morrison Project's production of The Hubble Cantata by Paola Prestini. For Music at Westwood this season, she serves as the Alto Soloist in the Bach Magnificat, Handel's Messiah, and Dvorak's Mass in D. She also sang the Old Lady in Candide for LA Opera's series for educators and was a featured ensemble member for their production of Jack Perla’s Jonah and the Whale. She finishes the season with concert performances of Dvorak’s Stabat Mater with Palisades Symphony Orchestra and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Bernstein selections with the California Philharmonic. She will also be seen as the Wardrobe in 5 Star Theatricals’ production of Beauty and the Beast, which also stars members of the original Broadway cast. Nandani made her debut with Opera Santa Barbara as La maestra della novizie in Suor Angelica, and returned for recent productions of The Cunning Little Vixen and La Rondine. Other recent highlights include the title role in La Cenerentola (Repertory Opera Company), Amneris in Aida (Marina Del Rey Symphony), The Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors (Malibu Coast Chamber Opera), Mrs. Ott in Susannah (Opera Pasadena), and Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus with Repertory Opera Company. Ms. Sinha has also been a frequent soloist at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, and a recitalist in London, France, Austria and Germany. Additionally, she has presented recitals throughout South Africa for the No.1 Ladies’ Opera Festival. A great proponent of new music, Nandani has sung in the world premieres of multiple compositions by Annenberg Foundation Composition Fellow Maria Newman. Recently, she premiered the role of Lily and Our Lady in the musical Golden with music written by Grammy Award Winner Nathan Wang for the Paderewski Cycle Competition. Ms. Sinha was the first-prize winner in the 2012 Franz Liszt International Competition, and in 2014 she earned two additional International Prizes from the same organization, including a special award for “Best Vocal Interpretation of a Work by Franz Liszt.” Nandani was a winner of the Hollywood Opera Reading Club Vocal Scholarship Competition and has been a recipient of scholarships from the Opera Buffs and Celestial Opera. In 2013 and 2014, she was a Marc and Eva Stern Fellow at Songfest, where she worked closely with William Bolcom, John Musto, Jake Heggie, Libby Larsen, Susanne Mentzer, Margo Garrett, and Martin Katz.

www.mezzonani.com

Ashley Kay Armstrong

Samuel Ramey

For almost three decades, Samuel Ramey has reigned as one of the music world’s foremost interpreters of bass and bass-baritone operatic and concert repertoire. Over the course of his career, he has demonstrated astounding versatility, singing roles ranging from Argante in Handel’s Rinaldo, which was the vehicle of his acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut in 1984, to the dramatic proclamations of the title role in Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle, which he sang in a new production at the Metropolitan Opera televised by PBS. Mr. Ramey’s interpretations embrace the bel canto of Bellini, Rossini and Donizetti; the lyric and dramatic roles of Mozart and Verdi; and the heroic roles of the Russian and French repertoire. In recent seasons, he has been seen at the Metropolitan Opera as Timur in Franco Zeffirelli’s production of Turandot. Other recent engagements include Don Basilio (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Rambaldo (La Rondine), and Pope Leo at the Met; Claudius (Hamlet) with Washington National Opera; Scarpia (Tosca) at Deutsche Oper Berlin; Méphistophélès in Nice; and the Grand Inquisitore (Don Carlos) with Houston Grand Opera. Mr. Ramey is well-known for his portrayals of devils and villains; Méphistophélès in Gounod’s Faust has become his most-performed role with over 200 performances in more than twenty productions. He is equally well-known throughout the world for his performances of Boito’s Mefistofele, including over 70 performances in the Robert Carsen production of this work specifically created for Mr. Ramey. He has also sung many performances of Berlioz’ devil in La damnation de Faust and the sinister Nick Shadow in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress. In 1996 Mr. Ramey presented a sold-out concert at New York’s Avery Fisher Hall titled "A Date with the Devil" in which he sang fourteen arias representing the core of this repertoire, and he continues to tour this pro gram throughout the world. Throughout his career, Samuel Ramey has appeared on all the world's greatest stages, including the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Vienna Staatsoper, Opéra de Paris, Arena di Verona, Deutsche Oper Berlin, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Teatro la Fenice, Teatro Colon, and the operas of Munich, Hamburg, Geneva, Florence, Zürich and Amsterdam, among others. He has worked with major conductors including Claudio Abbado, the late Leonard Bernstein, James Conlon, Sir Colin Davis, Valery Gergiev, Bernard Haitink, Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Muti, Kent Nagano, Seiji Ozawa, Sir Simon Rattle, Julius Rudel, the late Sir Georg Solti, and the late Herbert von Karajan. Samuel Ramey holds the distinction of being the most recorded bass in history. His more than eighty recordings include complete operas, recordings of arias, symphonic works, solo recital programs, and popular crossover albums on every major label. In 1998 the French Ministry of Culture awarded him the rank of Commander in the Order of Arts and Letters. Mr. Ramey is a native of Colby, Kansas.

Stage Director Alison Moritz’s recent productions have been lauded as “about as gorgeous and accessible as any opera anywhere” (The Commercial Appeal), and her work has been praised for its “incredible economy of resources, lean production design, and eye for jest and banter” by The Orlando Examiner.

A “rising young star on the contemporary American opera scene” (89.5 Tulsa), Ms. Moritz’s diverse projects for 2017-2018 include the world premiere of Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s newest opera Proving Up (Washington National Opera, AOI), as well as new productions of Orpheus in the Underworld (New Orleans Opera), Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Madison Opera), Trouble in Tahiti (Opera Santa Barbara), and a genre-bending triple bill of rarities for Bard Conservatory (Pulcinella, Full Moon in March, and Svadba). This season, Ms. Moritz also directs a new staging of Madama Butterfly (Syracuse Opera), collaborates with IlluminArts to profile artist Ana Mendieta, joins the Santa Fe Opera directing staff, and continues ongoing collaborations with the Resonant Bodies Festival and The Knights.

Alison’s exciting 2016-2017 season included several innovative productions of American operas: The Manchurian Candidate (Austin Opera), Candide (Orlando Philharmonic), The Tender Land (Crane School of Music), Our Town (Townsend Opera, Fresno Grand Opera), Hydrogen Jukebox (Tri-Cities Opera), Cabildo, and Gallantry (Central City Opera). Recently, the Austin Chronicle named Alison’s production of The Manchurian Candidate the #1 Classical Music/Dance event of 2016, and the production received seven Austin Critic’s Award Nominations and four wins (including “Best Opera Production”).

Previously, Alison served as the Resident Assistant Director at both the Minnesota Opera and The Atlanta Opera. Her professional credits include engagements with Seattle Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Wolf Trap Opera, Central City Opera, Opera Memphis, and Chautauqua Opera. As a teacher and guest director, Alison has taught at Eastman School of Music, Maryland Opera Studio, Crane School of Music, and for Steven Blier and Caramoor’s Vocal Rising Stars program.

Alison continues both her acting training and administrative interests and has worked and trained with companies such as the SITI Company of New York City, OPERA America, Geva Theatre Center, Third Rail Projects, Nautilus Music Theater, and Shakespeare Festival St. Louis. She holds a B.A. in Music and Art History from Washington University in St. Louis and an M.M. from Eastman School of Music, and was the recipient of the 2015-2016 recipient of the SDCF/Kurt Weill Foundation Fellowship. Alison is based in New York City and St. Louis, Missouri.

J. Gordon Schontzler *

Jonathan Walker-VanKuren

Denise DeBellefeuille

Cassandra Zoe Velasco

Andrew Bidlack

Featured by Opera News as one of their 'top 25 brilliant young artists' (October 2015), tenor Andrew Bidlack began the 2016-17 Season at Dallas Opera where he prepares two new roles: Lensky in Eugene Onegin and Greenhorn/Ishmael in Moby. He develops the role of Christopher Morcom in The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing (by Justine Chen and David Simpatico) for American Lyric Theater, and travels to Madison Opera for the role of Tamino in Die Zauberflöte. Also in Madison he performs with the Madison Symphony Orchestra Principle Organist in a program of arias from Handel's Messiah, Mendelssohn's Elijah, and other opera favorites. He reprises Rob Hall in a concert performance of Joby Talbot's Everest at Dallas Opera, and Getry's rarely heard opera Zémire et Azor makes great use of the artist's flexible coloratura when he sings the title role at Saratoga Opera.

Recent highlights include his European and UK debut in the challenging role of Private John Ball in In Parenthesis, Welsh National Opera's world-premiere by Iain Bell, directed by David Poutney and conducted by Carlo Rizzi with performances at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden; and his Metropolitan Opera of New York debut as Beppe in I pagliacci, where he also sang the Lamplighter while covering Edmondo Manon in Lescaut for which he won critical accolades. At Arizona Opera he joined the production of Florencia en el Amazonas as Arcadio.

Bidlack is a frequent interpreter of contemporary music; he created the roles of Rob Hall in Joby Talbot's Everest at Dallas Opera and that of Irving Tashman in Ricky Ian Gordon's Morning Star at Cincinnati Opera. He workshopped Greenhorn/Ishmael in the developmental production of Moby Dick at San Francisco Opera while he was an Adler Fellow and inaugurated Tandcredi in The Inspector (John Musto) at Wolf Trap. As a Merolino, he created the role of Charles Carter in Thomas Pasatieri's The Hotel Casablanca. Making his debut with Lyric Opera of Chicago, he appeared at Carnegie Hall as The Young Collector in their production of A Streetcar Named Desire with Renée Fleming, a role he also sang in Chicago. At Dallas Opera, he sang Sandy in The Lighthouse for the inception of their Chamber Opera Series.

With a large number of Rossini/Mozart and bel canto roles also to his credit, Andrew has appeared as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and Ferrando in Così fan tutte at Florida Grand Opera; Rodrigo in Rossini's Otello at Opera Southwest; Almaviva and Don Ramiro La cenerentola at Opera Omaha; Tonio in La fille du régiment at Palm Beach Opera and PORTopera; Pedrillo in Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor at San Francisco Opera; Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore at Empire State Lyric Theater; and Bastien in Bastien and Bastienna at Des Moines Metro Opera.

Josh Shaw

One of Musical America’s Top 30 Innovators in Classical Music in 2016, Josh Shaw is the Executive and Artistic Director of Pacific Opera Project (POP), a Los Angeles based company dedicated to presenting accessible, affordable, and ENTERTAINING opera. Over the past nine seasons, he has directed over 30 productions at POP including The Rake’s Progress, Ariadne auf Naxos, La calisto, Tosca: A Moving Production, and La boheme: AKA “The Hipsters”. Mr. Shaw’s reimagining of Die Entführung aus dem Serail as an episode of Star Trek has gained national attention and has been produced by eight companies selling out houses with record-breaking numbers. Since turning his attention to directing in 2011, he has directed over 70 productions at companies including New Orleans Opera, Intermountain Opera, The Southern Illinois Music Festival, Opera Neo, Alamo City Opera, Queen City Opera, Opera Orlando, and Salt Marsh Opera. He directed Il barbiere di Siviglia at Opera Santa Barbara last season. Other recent projects include productions of Don Giovanni, La gazzetta(Rossini), La traviata, Guillaume Tell, Carmen, and Tabasco: A Burlesque Opera, a newly rediscovered operetta by G. W. Chadwick, last performed in 1894. Mr. Shaw also wrote a new book and additional lyrics for the project that celebrated the McIlhenney Company’s 150^thanniversary. In addition to the rewrite of Tabasco and the new book and lyrics for Abduction from the Seraglio, Mr. Shaw has written several English version librettos for operas including a Wild West setting of Die Lustige Witwe, a contemporary setting of Die Schauspieldirektor, and most recently a hit production of Die Zauberflüteset in the world of 1980s video games. Next month he directs a groundbreaking production of Madama Butterflysung in Japanese and English, a co-production of POP and Opera in Heights (Houston). Other upcoming projects include Il trovatoreat The Southern Illinois Music Festival, Gianni Schicchiat Opera Columbus, and I pagiliacciat Salt Marsh Opera. More details at joshshaw.org.

Stage Director / The Barber of Seville

March 2018 (debut)

Hailed for her “deliciously over the top” and “powerful mezzo” by Opera News, Alissa Anderson wields her comic prowess, striking features, and her “powerful vocalism” to great acclaim. Ms. Anderson achieved a considerable success and was celebrated for being “impeccably prepared” and “splendid in every way” when she stepped in as Florence Pike in Santa Fe Opera’s Albert Herring under the baton of Sir Andrew Davis. In the 2019/2020 season, Ms. Anderson will make her company and role debuts with Opera Philadelphia as Princess Clarissa in Prokofiev’s The Love of Three Oranges as well as both her role and European debuts as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd with The Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen. In the spring she returns to Opera Birmingham to sing the role of Madame de la Haltière in Massenet’s Cendrillion. The 2017-2018 season featured her debut with Opera Birmingham and Opera Louisiana in the title role of La tragédie de Carmen, her debut with Opera Delaware as Frugola/La Zia Principessa in Il trittico, and her debut with Utah Festival Opera as The Witch in Into the Woods. The 2018-2019 season includes Ms. Anderson’s return to San Diego Opera as Maddalena in Rigoletto, her debut with Opera San Antonio as Marthe in Faust, Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro and Ms. Andrew/The Bird Woman in Mary Poppins in a return to Utah Festival Opera, and the starring role in the world premiere of the opera Debussy & Ravel: The Flowers of Evil with Mercury Chamber Orchestra at the Wortham Center in Houston, TX.

The 2016-2017 season saw her debut with San Diego Opera as Tisbe in La Cenerentola, a New Year’s Eve gala concert with Opera Southwest, Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro with North Carolina Opera, Verdi’s Requiem with the Houston Camerata, and La Zia Principessa/Ciesca in Il trittico with the Opera Company of Middlebury. Other recent performances for Ms. Anderson include La Zia Principessa/Zita in Suor Angelica/Gianni Schicchi with Opera Santa Barbara, Cleo in The Most Happy Fella with Tulsa Opera, Mother Goose in The Rake’s Progress with Utah Opera, and her debut with Houston Grand Opera’s East + West series in River of Light by composer Jack Perla and librettist Chitra Divakaruni. In addition, she made, her “comically perfect” debut as Mistress Quickly in Falstaff with Opera in the Heights, Lampito in Lysistrata with Fort Worth Opera, Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro with Opera Santa Barbara, Emilia in Otello and Zulma in L’italiana in Algeri with Opera Southwest, Madame de la Haltiere in Cendrillion and the Mother in Hansel and Gretel with the Santa Fe Concert Association, Maddalena in Rigoletto with Opera in the Heights, and her return to Santa Fe Opera where she sang the Society Woman in The Last Savage. Recent concert engagements have included John Adams’ Grand Pianola Music with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with Concordia University Symphony Orchestra, her European concert debut as mezzo soloist in Verdi’s Requiem with performances throughout Germany and France and her Lincoln Center debut as the mezzo soloist in Mahler’s 2nd Symphony.

At Sarasota Opera, Ms. Anderson performed the roles of Dritte Dame in Die Zauberflöte, Sandman in Hansel and Gretel, and Flora in La Traviata. As a resident and principal artist with Fort Worth Opera she performed the roles of Tisbe in La Cenerentola, Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor, and the Angel Trio in Angels in America. Scott Cantrell of the Dallas Morning News praised her 2010 performance of Verdi’s Requiem with the University of North Texas Symphony Orchestra stating, “Mezzo Alissa Anderson supplied aptly rich tones and an awesome chest voice.”

Other notable engagements include her Tisbe in La Cenerentola and Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance with Opera New Jersey, Flora in La Traviata and Mercedes in Carmen with Pensacola Opera, and Flora in La Traviata with Nevada Opera. As a young artist, she performed with the Santa Fe Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, and Ashlawn-Highland Opera, as well as spending three consecutive summers at the Seagle Music Colony where she sang the title role in Carmen, Anita in West Side Story, Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Alma March in Little Women, Woman in Marry Me A Little, and Hedy La Rue in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Ms. Anderson holds her Master of Music in Opera Performance from The University of Maryland and her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of North Texas.

The Princess / Suor Angelica

April 2016

Zita / Gianni Schicchi

April 2016

Marcellina / Le nozze di Figaro

March 2012

Flora / La traviata

March 2011 (debut)

Studio Artist

2011

Marlyn Bernard Bernstein +

. Theatre Company of Upland

Emily Langford Johnson

Thorsteinn Arbjörnsson

Alexia Tillinghast-Trickett

A graduate of San Francisco’s prestigious Adler Fellow Opera Program, American tenor Daniel Montenegro is recognized for his flexible and distinctive voice and a varied repertoire of bel canto, verismo, and contemporary roles.

In 2015, Daniel made his Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, and San Diego Opera debuts as Luis (a role he created) in El Pasado Nuca se Termina. Recent seasons include Giovanni (La Hija de Rappaccini) with Gotham Opera and his European opera debut at the Théâtre du Châtelet as Mario in Daniel Catán’s Il Postino along side Plácido Domingo, as well as a number of significant role and company debuts including Roderigo (Otello) with San Francisco Opera under Nicola Luisotti, Alfredo (La Traviata) with New Orleans Opera and Minnesota Opera, Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore) with Washington National Opera, Pang (Turandot) at the Hollywood Bowl conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, Pong (Turandot) with San Francisco Opera and Dallas Opera, Roméo in Roméo et Juliette with Tulsa Opera and the Castleton Festival, and most recently, Mario in Il Postino with Opera Saratoga, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with Arizona Opera, and Rafael in Cruzar la Cara de la Luna in his debut with Fort Worth Opera. The 2017-2018 season included a concert of excerpts from La bohème with the Quad City Symphony, Rafael in Cruzar la Cara de la Luna in his debut with both New York City Opera and Houston Grand Opera, and his San Diego opera debut as Arcadio in Florencia en el Amazonas. The 2018-2019 season and beyond sees him as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with Opera Columbus, Alfredo in La Traviata with Arizona Opera, Luis in El Pasado Nuca se Termina with Fort Worth Opera, and making a return to San Francisco Opera.

Daniel features on ‘Great Voices Sing John Denver’ alongside Plácido Domingo and many other key operatic names; produced by legendary arranger and music producer Milt Okun, the disc was released on the MRI Associated label in June 2013.

Kristin Noelle Anderson

Mezzo-soprano Nina Yoshida Nelsen has been hailed as a “rich voiced, expressive mezzo-soprano” by San Francisco Classical Voice and “appealingly direct and honest in tone and bearing” by Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe. Nina was most recently seen at Opera Santa Barbara as the Secretary in The Consul (2014). Previous performances with the company include both Kate Pinkerton (2003) and Suzuki (2012) in Madama Butterfly. Her Suzuki has also been heard at New York City Opera, Utah Opera, The Atlanta Opera, Sarasota Opera, Manitoba Opera, the Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice, and at Royal Albert Hall in London. Ms. Nelsen has performed leading roles in the world premieres of several important new operas, including the role of Mama in Jack Perla's An American Dream with Seattle Opera, Khanh in Huang Ruo's Bound and the role of Woman in Marty Ragen's Memory Stone (both with Houston Grand Opera). Other operatic highlights include the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors at Avery Fisher Hall and Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro with Utah Opera. Ms. Nelsen is also in-demand as a concert soloist. She has sung the alto solo in Beethoven’s Symphony #9 at Carnegie Hall, with the Santa Fe Concert Association, the Southwest Florida Symphony, and the Santa Barbara Symphony. She has sung Verdi's Requiem with the Guelph Symphony Orchestra and the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra, Mozart's Requiem with the Santa Barbara Symphony and the Southwest Florida Symphony, Handel’s Messiah with the Nashville Symphony, Mozart’s Coronation Mass with the Santa Barbara Symphony and the Peoria Symphony, and Mahler's Songs of a Wayfarer with the Grand Junction and Flagstaff Symphony Orchestras. Ms. Nelsen has received awards and recognition from the Gerda Lissner, Profant, and Santa Barbara's Performing Arts Scholarship Foundations; she was a National Finalist in the vocal competitions of the Jensen Foundation, the Loren L. Zachary Society, and the Metropolitan Opera. She is a 2009 graduate of the Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) in Philadelphia, where she studied with Bill Schuman; she is also an alumna of the Opera Institute at Boston University.

Anthony Roth Costanzo

Ventura Limoncello Company

Brad Dalton

Yannis Adoniou

Rhoslyn Jones

Christopher Bengochea

Rosemary Wagner-Scott

William Christensen

Dauri Dennedy

Lori Phillips

Arthur Allen Seidelman

Britt Jewett- Studio 7

Palmina Winery

Tammy Coil

Jessica Medoff & Michael Bunchman

Husband and wife Michael Bunchman and Jessica Medoff are fast becoming one of the country's finest musical duos bridging the gap and blurring the lines between classical, music theater, art song and popular music. As co-creators of three original cabarets, the pair has delighted audiences coast to coast with their unique blend of genres and their undeniable musical chemistry. Both classically trained, the couple met while studying music at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

First Place Winner of the 2010 Shreveport Singer of the Year competition, Jessica defines the Renaissance woman in music throughout all genres; Critic Jon Sobel says "Jessica Medoff is perfectly spectacular - If she doesn't have a fan club, someone should start one." In addition to singing leading roles in Don Giovanni, La Bohème, Suor Angelica, Carmen, The Merry Widow, and the soprano solos in Verdi's Requiem, she has performed impressive turns in more adventurous repertoire including Judith in Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle and the Governess in Britten's Turn of the Screw. On the musical theater stage she has been seen as Maria in The Sound of Music, Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, Nancy in Oliver! and Aldonza in Man of La Mancha.

Highlights of Michael's solo career include performances with the Ridgefield Symphony, the Antara Ensemble of New York City, the Aspen Music Festival chamber series, and the Breckenridge Music Festival. In addition to his solo career, Michael is an avid collaborator and is currently recording a disc of French mélodies with Metropolitan Opera flutist Harold Jones.

As a pair, Jessica and Michael continue to impress audiences throughout the United States with their style, charm and commitment to text and music. Says Jon Sobel, "One remarkable thing about [the duo] is the two performers' seamless connection; it's as if they can read each others' minds, piano and voice flowing together in perfect sympathy. This makes just about any song they perform something more than the sum of its parts."

Kristin Noelle Anderson

The Santa Barbara Children's Chorus

Lucas Benjaminh Krech

Zulimar López-Hernández

Virginia Opera/John Pascoe

Roger H. Davidson is Professor Emeritus of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park, and Visiting Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. From 1980 to 1988 he held the post of Senior Specialist in American National Government and Public Administration with the Congressional Research Service, U.S. Library of Congress. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.

Born in Washington, DC, and raised in Fort Collins, CO, Dr. Davidson attended the University of Colorado and received his Ph.D from Columbia University. He began his teaching career at Dartmouth College, moving to the University of California, Santa Barbara (1968-1980), where he served as chairman of the political science department and associate dean of Letters and Science. He has been a visiting professor at Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, American, and George Washington universities, and has lectured or conducted seminars on U.S. politics and policy making throughout this country and in Europe, South America, Africa, India, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and other South Pacific countries. In 2002 he was John Marshall Professor at the University of Debrecen, Hungary, awarded by the Hungarian Fulbright Commission. He was named Visiting Distinguished Political Scientist at Santa Barbara City College in 2005-2006. Dr. Davidson is listed in Who’s Who in America.

Dr. Davidson’s musical interests began early. In his youth he took piano lessons and sang in high school and university choirs. His passion for opera (and Broadway musicals) blossomed during his years in New York City as a graduate student at Columbia University—hearing legendary singers at the old (and new) Metropolitan Opera House. In Washington, DC, he subscribed to the Washington National Opera; he has attended many opera performances in the US and abroad.

Dr. Davidson is co-chair of the UCSB Affiliates, board member of the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara, and a docent for both the Architectural Foundation and the Santa Barbara Historical Society. He and his wife Nancy subscribe to and support OSB, Santa Barbara Symphony, Camerata Pacifica, UCSB’s Arts and Lectures series, and CAMA. They are members of the Council of Contributors of the Music Academy of the West and especially follow their vocal music program. Dr. Davidson serves on MAW’s Advancement Committee.

Beverly O'Regan Thiele

Luis Alejandro Orozco

Lee Poulis is “virile and heroic in both appearance and vocalism” (Opera News) and has been praised for his “dark baritone, rich in color.” Twice named Best Young Singer by Die Welt, Mr. Poulis has performed at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden of Berlin, Teatro Real of Madrid, the Opera of Bilbao, and the Teatro Municipal of Santiago. He performed the title role in the national premieres of Doctor Atomic in Germany and at the Finnish National Opera. In the 2017-18 season, he appeared in Handel's Messiah with the Florida Orchestra, Carmina Burana with Long Beach Camerata, Bach's Mass in B Minor with the New York Choral Society at Carnegie Hall, and Cantata #82, "Ich habe genug" with the Jacksonville Symphony. Career highlights include Zurga in Les Pêcheurs de perles with Fort Worth Opera and Sarasota Opera, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor with Dayton Opera and the Belleayre Festival Opera, Marcello in La bohème with Toledo Opera and Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Valentin in Faust with Lyric Opera Baltimore and Theater Chemnitz (Germany), the title role of Don Giovanni with Sarasota Opera, and Heathcliff in Herrmann’s Wuthering Heights with Minnesota Opera. He was a member of the ensemble at Theater Bonn, where he performed roles including Wolfram in Tannhäuser, Pantalon in Prokofiev’s The Love for Three Oranges, Germont in La traviata, Yeletsky in Pique Dame, Renato in Un ballo in maschera, and Michonnet in Adriana Lecouvreur. His frequent appearances at Washington National Opera include Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Dandini in La Cenerentola, and Senator Raitcliffe in the world premiere of Scott Wheeler’s Democracy. He has also been on the roster of San Francisco Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago. He made his his Opera Santa Barbara debut as Ford in Falstaff in 2014. Mr. Poulis’ concert engagements include baritone soloist in Handel's Messiah, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and in the Mozart, Fauré, and Brahms Requiem settings with organizations such as the Masterworks Chorale, Kansas City Symphony, American Youth Symphony, Waltham Philharmonic, the Atlantic Union College and the Gemini Youth Orchestra. Mr. Poulis has also appeared in recital with the Marilyn Horne Foundation at Carnegie’s Weill Hall as well as in Washington D.C. with the Washington Vocal Arts Society. Lee Poulis won first prize in the 2008 Liederkranz Foundation Vocal Competition, the 2008 Francisco Viñas International Voice Competition, and the 2007 Chester Ludgin International Verdi Baritone Competition, as well as an Encouragement Award recipient in the 2008 George London Foundation Awards competition. He is an alumnus of Washington National Opera’s Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program, San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, and Music Academy of the West. Mr. Poulis is a graduate of Harvard University.

Elliott Carlton Hines

Praised for her "brilliant lyric soprano" (San Diego Story), Rachel Blaustein is quickly gaining recognition for her riveting stage presence and innate musicality.

The 2019-2020 season proves to be an exciting year with many new debuts. This fall, Rachel joined Lyric Opera of Chicago's Lyric Unlimited, covering the role of Kenzie in their fall touring production of Earth to Kenzie. In February 2020, she appeared with Chicago Opera Theater in their workshop of Kamala Sankaram's Taking Up Serpents singing the roles of Save Mart Customer/Queer Kid/Holiness Congregation Member. In early March, she made her concert debut with the Bel Canto Chorus and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra as the Soprano Soloist in Bach's Mass in B Minor. Upcoming, she will be a Semi-Finalist in the McCammon Voice Competition held in Fort Worth, TX in April 2020. To round out the 2020 season, Rachel will join the Glimmerglass Festival this summer singing Despina in Così?, (a 70-minute English adaptation of Cosi fan tutte) and will cover Sister Margaretta in The Sound of Music.

The 2018-2019 season brought an exciting debut with Opera NEO where Rachel sang the role of Tatyana in Eugene Onegin. Active in competition, she won Second Place in The American Prize in Vocal Performance (Women in Opera), The Friedrich & Virginia Schorr Memorial Awards and was a Finalist and won an Encouragement Award from both the 2019 Central Region Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, as well as the Annapolis Opera Competition. Additionally, she won the Audience Choice Award in the Harold Haugh Light Opera Competition, and was a Finalist in Opera Ithaca's Edward M. Murray International Competition of Voice.

In the 2017-2018 season, she was seen as a studio artist with Florentine Opera performing Papagena in The Magic Flute, Second Woman and Shepherdess in Dido and Aeneas/Venus and Adonis, and Sylviane in The Merry Widow.

In previous seasons, Rachel has been a young artist with Kentucky Opera, Opera NEO, Des Moines Metro Opera, Florentine Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Chautauqua Opera, and has appeared in concert with Fort Worth Opera. On the competition front, Rachel has previously won awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Partners for the Arts Vocal Competition, the Harold Haugh Light Opera Competition, among others.

A native of Olney, Maryland, Rachel holds Bachelor's degree in Voice with a minor in drama from Hofstra University and a Master of Music from the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University.

Giannetta /
L'elisir d'amore

March 2016 (debut)

Mosher Studio Artist

2015–2016

Kostis Protopapas was named General Director of Opera Santa Barbara in December 2017, after two-and-a-half seasons as Artistic Director.

During his time as Artistic Director and principal conductor, Kostis brought a unified vision to OSB’s musical and production values, strengthening the orchestra and chorus, engaging some of the country’s most promising young directors and singers, building a high-performing production team, and increasing focus on contemporary American opera. The result was productions of both familiar and new repertoire that are counted among the finest in the company’s history.

As General Director, Kostis grew the company’s staff from three to seven, assembling an enthusiastic group of overachievers sharing an appetite for innovation and the desire to strengthen the company’s bond with the community.

During 2018-19, the company’s 25th anniversary season, Kostis oversaw the sold-out Santa Barbara premiere of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and a production of The Crucible that the Santa Barbara Independent hailed as “one of the season’s most exciting performances of any kind in Santa Barbara”; a 25th anniversary gala concert; and the company’s first-ever student matinee performance as well as its first ever Youth camp.

Under Kostis’ leadership Opera Santa Barbara saw the creation of the Santa Barbara Youth Opera, a program providing educational and performance opportunities for school-age children; the expansion of the company’s Chrisman Studio program to a season-long residency for emerging artists; an impressive growth in the company’s community engagement and educational activities throughout the Central Coast; and the runaway success of Operacurious, a new program that brings Young Professionals in Santa Barbara in contact with opera and its artists.

2016 saw the end of Kostis' 15-year association with Tulsa Opera, during which he conducted 30 productions of a diverse repertoire extending from popular classics to contemporary American works. About his 2011 Barber of Seville performances, Alex Ross of The New Yorker wrote, “Most impressive was the fluid idiomatic playing of the orchestra… In any city, it’s rare to find a conductor that sets the right tempo so consistently that you stop noticing he's there.”

Kostis has been an Assistant Conductor for the Lyric Opera of Chicago, LA Opera and Santa Fe Opera. At the Lyric Opera of Chicago, he also served as Assistant Chorus Master under Donald Palumbo for two seasons..

Born in Athens, Greece, Kostis Protopapas studied Archaeology and History of Art at the University of Athens before coming to the United States in 1993, on an Onassis Foundation scholarship, to study piano at The Boston Conservatory and conducting at Boston University. He became an American citizen in 2011. He loves living in Santa Barbara, and enjoys downtown restaurants, the Funk Zone’s tasting rooms, and sailing on the Santa Barbara Channel.

http://kostis-protopapas.com

Tara Faircloth

Stage director Tara Faircloth’s work has been seen in opera houses around the nation. Critics hailed her Nozze di Figaro, claiming, “Faircloth made her Atlanta Opera debut this night with distinction, creating an unstoppable momentum of manipulation and misunderstandings. This production was so fresh that it had the ability to bridge yet another gap, entertaining the amateur and the opera aficionado alike” (Opera News). She directed two world premieres with the Houston Grand Opera's East+West series (The Bricklayer and Her Name Means The Sea) and has a thriving career in regional houses such as Wolf Trap Opera, Utah Opera, Arizona Opera, Tulsa Opera and Atlanta Opera (Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Rigoletto, Die Zauberflöte, Hänsel & Gretel, etc.). The baroque repertoire is of special interest to Ms. Faircloth, who made her directorial debut with Ars Lyrica Houston’s production of Cain: Il primo omicidio in 2003, and has since designed and directed a number of shows for the company, including Charpentier's Actéon and La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers. She created productions of Dido & Aeneas for Ars Lyrica at the Festival di Musica Barroca in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and for Mercury Baroque in collaboration with the Dominic Walsh Dance Theater.

The 2018-19 season finds Ms. Faircloth working on several new productions (Il Re Pastore with Merola Opera, Agrippina with Ars Lyrica Houston, The Little Prince with Utah Opera, The Coronation of Poppea with Boston Baroque), and returning to some familiar favorites: Le Nozze di Figaro and Rigoletto (for Arizona Opera and Austin Opera, respectively). Following last year’s season, which included new productions of Gianni Schicchi, Pagliacci, and Loving Clara, a mixed media collaboration exploring the life and loves of Clara Schumann with Mercury Orchestra, Ms. Faircloth is clearly in demand as an interpreter for familiar works and those that are more obscure.

Ms. Faircloth has worked extensively on the directing staff of such companies as Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Central City Opera, and Dallas Opera, and as such, has worked on some of the most complicated operas in the repertoire, assisting international directors and preparing cover casts of some of the best performers in our industry. Passionate about dramatic training for young singers, she is the Drama Instructor for the Houston Grand Opera Studio, and has served as a guest coach at HGO's Young Artists’ Vocal Academy, Wolf Trap Opera Studio, Des Moines Metro Opera, University of Michigan, and Rice University. Her home is in Houston, Texas, where she enjoys restoring her 1935 Craftsman Bungalow.

Director / La rondine

April 2017 (debut)

Adam Diegel

Karin Wolverton

Crystal Manich

Crystal Manich is an international director whose work has been seen across the United States, Argentina, and Australia. From opera to musicals, plays, and short films, she creates a diverse body of work year after year. Hailed by the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other major publications for “lively” and “imaginative staging,” she has directed over 60 productions. Directing credits include: Buenos Aires Lírica in Argentina, Pinchgut in Sydney (Australia), Pittsburgh, The Kennedy Center, Santa Fe, Wolf Trap, Boston Lyric, Utah, Tulsa, American Opera Projects, Utah, Omaha, Arizona, Santa Barbara, Columbus, North Carolina, Delaware, Roanoke, and Baltimore. Former Artistic Director of Mill City Summer Opera and Founding Co-Artistic Director for Opera Omnia in New York. She was assistant artistic director on Cirque du Soleil’s Quidam in Brazil.

Crystal’s short bilingual film script, Desconocer, was an Official Selection and finalist of the 2019 Oaxaca FilmFest Global Script Challenge. She won the Audience Award at the 2018 Great Lakes International Shorts Festival for her short film L’Ivresse, which she wrote and directed.

She is currently a part of the ongoing development of a new adaptation of the Puerto Rican play La Carreta/The Oxcart in collaboration with playwright Caridad Svich, in addition to other literary development projects.

Having grown up bilingual, she recently stated the following in an interview about her new production of the Spanish language opera Il Postino: “It's become a real desire of mine to make the Spanish language part of what we're offering in the cultural sector.”

In Fall 2019, she directed the world premiere stage adaptation of Julia Alvarez’s Return to Sender by Marisela Orta for the Nashville Children’s Theatre about Mexican immigration and its complexities. It has been nominated for several Broadway World regional awards. She also directed the opera adaptation of the Spanish language opera Il Postino for Virginia Opera in a new production that will appear at several companies in the United States.

In January 2020 Crystal directed the musical Bernarda Alba, based on the Spanish play by Federico García Lorca, by Michael John LaChiusa for the Minneapolis company Theater Latté Da in a new production. Her spring season also includes a new Spanish adaptation of Cimarosa’s opera Il Matrimonio Segreto set in 1980’s Little Havana in Miami, as well as André Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire in Virginia.

Stage Director /
The Cunning Little Vixen

March 2017 (debut)

Stage director Octavio Cardenas captivates audiences with his visionary, visceral, and physical style of directing. Born in the city of Guadalajara, Mexico, Opera News has praised him for “an immersive theater experience” while the Dallas Morning News hailed him for bringing “every character and situation to life.” Recent projects include Puccini’s La bohème for Minnesota Opera, Philip Glass’s Galileo Galilei for Des Moines Metro Opera, Die Fledermaus for Baylor Opera, and Florencia en el Amazonas for the Tulsa Opera YAP program. Upcoming projects see him direct the world premiere of Bless Me, Ultima for Opera Southwest, Turandot for Mississippi Opera, Falstaff for Intermountain Opera, The Tender Land for Des Moines Metro Opera, and La rondine for Minnesota Opera.

Mr. Cardenas’s recent productions of Silent Night for Fort Worth Opera and Lyric Opera of Kansas City were described as “a breathtaking realization” with “many brilliant touches.” The Kansas City Star called the Lyric Opera’s production “one of its finest performances in recent memory.” Other recent productions include Rappaccini’s Daughter for Des Moines Metro Opera, The Magic Flute for Opera Neo in San Diego, The Giver for Minnesota Opera, and As One for UrbanArias for which MD Theater Guide acclaimed “Under the direction of Octavio Cardenas, the two stars playfully make great use of both stage and energetic space—it seemed the theatre condensed and expanded with Hannah’s journey.”

As the former Director of Opera for Baylor University, Mr. Cardenas directed productions of L’elisir d’amore, The Turn of the Screw, Dialogues of the Carmelites, and Rita. He currently serves as the Head of the Directing Staff at Des Moines Metro Opera and in addition to having been on the directing staff at Chautauqua Opera. He joined the Minnesota Opera Resident Artists Program for four consecutive seasons, working on all main stage productions and directing Andrew Sinclair’s production of Les pêcheurs de perles. Other directing credits include Susannah at Loyola Opera Theatre, which won the award for “Best College Production 2012” by the Gambit Magazine in New Orleans.

Mr. Cardenas received his Master of Fine Arts in Theatre from UCLA, a Master of Music from the University of South Carolina, and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Centenary College in Louisiana.